Heathfield School, the Ascot-based independent secondary boarding and day school for girls aged 11-18, is celebrating having been officially declared ‘Excellent’ in all areas by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI).

Delighted headmistress, Marina Gardiner Legge, said, “I’m thrilled to see that the hard work and commitment of our brilliant staff has been formally recognised in this outstanding result and that we have progressed ‘up’ one grade from ‘Good’ to ‘Excellent’ – the best you can get! This report demonstrates how through setting high expectations and focussing on the progress of every girl, real change can be made.”

Inspectors rated the quality of pupils’ academic and other achievements as ‘Excellent’ stating that “Pupils consistently demonstrate positive attitudes to learning, have highly developed communication skills, and achieve their best”. They went on to confirm that, “Pupils demonstrate outstanding subject knowledge and understanding and display extremely effective study skills and abilities such as analysis and synthesis of knowledge”. They also described pupils’ non academic achievements as “outstanding”.

Personal development was also rated ‘Excellent’ with Inspectors commenting that, “Pupils are socially aware and work extremely effectively with others to achieve common goals and demonstrate conspicuously substantial self-knowledge and resilience that prepares them well for the next stage of their lives”. Inspectors also noted that, “Pupils know how to stay healthy, particularly in terms of diet, exercise and a balanced lifestyle with a good understanding of risk”. They concluded that “Pupils [also] respect and value diversity in society and appreciate their own and other cultures.”

Last year Heathfield celebrated an amazing performance in its GCSE exams having achieved the school’s best ever results with 60% of girls achieving A*-A and grades 7,8,9 in the new and significantly more demanding English GCSEs – an 11% improvement on figures for 2016. Eight in ten girls (87%) achieved all A*-C grades in their A Level exams this summer, with more than half gaining all A*-B grades.